A ride on the carousel in San Diego’s Balboa Park has Martha pondering the origin of the phrases to grab the brass ring, meaning to achieve something difficult, and to reach for the brass ring, meaning to try hard to reach a goal, and by extension, to live life with gusto. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Grab the Brass Ring”
I had an interesting etymological experience the other day in beautiful Balboa Park in San Diego.
I was riding the carousel there, which is one of the last of its kind. It was built in 1910, and it’s this beautiful, beautiful old carousel. I highly recommend riding it.
And it’s one of the last carousels that has this old-fashioned game associated with it, which is reaching for the brass ring. You’re going around and around on the carousel, and there’s this arm that sticks out, and there is a ring dangling from it. And you’re supposed to try to grab it as you go past.
And in the past, if you were able to grab that brass ring as you went by, then you got a prize. And it was usually something like another ride on the carousel.
But anyway, that is fossilized in our language in the phrase grabbing the brass ring or having a shot at the brass ring, which means striving for the highest prize or more metaphorically living life to the fullest.
That’s super interesting.
Yeah, I had learned that from books, but I didn’t really grasp it, as it were, until I was riding the carousel in Balboa Park.
When you sent me that picture of you astride a mechanical horse, I was going to reply with, did you get the brass ring?
Oh, really?
Because I remember I had ridden that carousel.
Oh, really?
And it is a beautiful old carousel with a wooden enclosure and, you know, in the greenery of Balboa Park right near the zoo.
Yes.
It’s outstanding.
Yes.
And it’s not just horses. It’s tiger. There’s a tiger and chickens or roosters.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It’s a real treat.
So the metal arm sticks out. There’s a ring on it. And if you grab it, you get a prize.
These days, you just get satisfaction.
But still.
Yeah.
Usually another ride.
Or a concussion.
Embedded in the language is our history.
Exactly.
